Arizona Route 66 Maps

About Arizona
Nickname:	Grand Canyon State
State Bird:	Cactus Wren
State Flower:	Saguaro Blossom
Capital:	Phoenix
Miles of US 66:	380

Route 66's path through Arizona followed roughly what is now Interstate 40, and entered the state from the east near the town of Lupton. There is an extensive stretch of uninterrupted Mother Road pavement in the western portion of the state which was cut off so drastically by the construction of I-40 that it has remained much as it was in the Route 66 era. That stretch begins just east of Seligman and passes through such towns as Peach Springs, Hackberry, and Oatman en route to the California border (Colorado River).

General

East of Holbrook, Route 66 passed through a portion of the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. While no longer accessible from what remains of 66, these famous attractions are of course convenient to I-40 and are definitely worth a stop. Further west, the towns of Flagstaff and Williams are known as launching points to the Grand Canyon, which is to the north.

The path of Route 66 is highlighted in the map below. There is also an enlarged PDF version (348K) available for viewing.

City & Regional Maps

Below are some Route 66-era detail maps.

Western Arizona Region

The map at right is dated 1963. Even at this late date (the act creating the Interstate highway system had been passed in 1956), there was no hint of the interstate construction in this portion of the state which would eventually bypass such communities as Peach Springs and Hackberry.

By this time, however, the highway's old path through Oatman had already been bypassed in favor of an "improved" route which veered southward at McConnico and passed through Yucca on its way to Topock. This provided more of an all-weather route, as the road to Oatman, even today, is subject to flash flooding. That newer alignment later became the site of the I-40 roadbed.

A large, full-color PDF version (247K) of the above map is available for detailed viewing.

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Holbrook, 1927

At right is an inset map of Holbrook, Arizona, dated 1927. This is right at the time that the numbered highway system, including Route 66, was first established.

Holbrook at this time was a small village, with very few city streets indicated on this map. Route 66 entered Holbrook in the northeast quadrant and headed south (on Porter St) until meeting up with Hopi Drive (one block north of Central) and turning west.

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Winslow

This map of Winslow, from 1969, shows the path of Route 66 running concurrently with U.S. 180. The map also at this time indicates the projected path of Interstate 40, which will later supercede U.S. 66 and bypass the city.

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Flagstaff

In the map at right dated 1965, the "proposed interstate" (I-40) figures prominently, although the primary east-west thoroughfare was at this time still U.S. 66.

Just a few years later, in 1969, the city of Flagstaff can be avoided by using the new interstate highway. I-40 can be accessed from 66 on the east side of town, and it takes the traveler completely off the limits of the map to the west.

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Kingman

Like its brethren Flagstaff and Winslow above, the writing was on the wall for Kingman in the 1960s. Again, the 1965 map pictured at right clearly shows the path that Interstate 40 will one day follow, giving the city an especially wide berth.